The title of Isadora Vaughan’s solo presentation at Gertrude Glasshouse co-joins the names bilirubin – a chemical compound formed by the breakdown of dead blood cells in the body, inherent in the yellow colourisation of bruises ­– and bezoar – a small stony concretion formed in the stomachs of certain animals, and historically used as an antidote to particular poisons. 

Bilirubin Bezoar extends Vaughan’s interest in expanded material experimentation and elaborating a visceral interpretation of anatomical surface, composition and transformation. In this installation, the artist blankets the surface of the floor to create an environment that forms a skin, upon which audiences must navigate a pathway through. Appearing as an environment akin to a forest floor, yet one that also connotes an infestation or infection of a bodily surface, the installation takes form like an alchemist’s manufacture of a new form of anatomy. Departing purposefully from the physical representation of the human form, Vaughan instead presents a setting of unnerving viscosity, metamorphosis and decay that suggests a conduit between and a collapsing of the body and the environment. 

Isadora Vaughan completed a Bachelor of Fine Art (honours) from The Victorian College of Arts, Melbourne, in 2013. Selected recent solo exhibitions includeMetabolic Rift, Station, Melbourne (2018); Recalcitrant Bodies, The Honeymoon Suite, Melbourne (2017); Tess (with Clementine Edwards), 55 Sydenham Road, Sydney (2017); Cunjevoi, Station, Melbourne (2016); Slatey Clevage, Chapter House Lane, Melbourne (2015); Soil Slag, TCB art inc., Melbourne (2015); and Slippery Mattering West Space, Melbourne (2014). Selected recent group exhibitions includeFrom Will to Form: TarraWarra Biennial, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville (2018); Material Politics, c3 contemporary art space, Melbourne (2017); Erotisch,Private residence, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2017); Erotic City, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine, USA (2016); First thought, Best thought, Space Space, Tokyo, Japan (2015); and Soft Eyes: Part One, TCB art inc., Melbourne. 

The presentation of Bilirubin Bezoar at Gertrude Glasshouse coincides with a major new solo project by the artist, Gaia Not The Goddess, on view at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne until 23 June.
 
Isadora Vaughan is represented by Station, Melbourne.

The 2019 Gertrude Glasshouse exhibition program is supported by Yarra City Council.